Al-Khaleej 1-2 Al-Hilal: Sultan Mandash winner heats up title race

Al-Hilal moved within two points of Saudi Pro League leaders Al-Nassr after defeating Al-Khaleej 2-1 at Prince Mohamed bin Fahd Stadium.

Sultan Mandash was the matchwinner for Al-Hilal after Sergej Milinkovic-Savic cancelled out Joshua King’s opener in the first half, with the top two in the league facing off on May 12.

Al-Khaleej took the lead after 11 minutes in somewhat fortuitous fashion; the rebound from a poor in-swinging corner find kindly to King, who smashed into the roof of the net.

The visitors were back level shortly after the half-hour mark as Milinkovic-Savic headed in from Ruben Neves corner, which came after Theo Hernandez’s strike from range was tipped around the post.

Al-Hilal thought they had a second when Milinkovic-Savic netted again, but the Serbian had mistimed his run to give Al-Khaleej a reprieve, though it was one the home side did not take advantage of.

A huge lapse in concentration saw Sultan Mandash intercept a pass from a defender and poke home in the 79th minute, before Karim Benzema saw a goal disallowed for offside in stoppage time.

An important victory in Dammam pic.twitter.com/DUjXW9pzro

— AlHilal Saudi Club (@Alhilal_EN) May 5, 2026

Data Debrief: Milinkovic-Savic leads attacking charge

It was certainly a deserved victory for Simone Inzaghi’s side, who produced 1.65 expected goals (xG) from 22 shots to Al-Khaleej’s 0.63 from just six attempts.

With Benzema and Salem Al Dawsari starting on the bench, Milinkovic-Savic led Al-Hilal’s attacking exploits. He registered the most shots (six) and touches in the box (nine), while also winning the most duels (8/16) and aerial duels (6/8).

Al-Khaleej have now lost 17 points from winning positions in the Saudi League this season. No team has lost more.